Monday, September 24, 2012

It's been AGES since my last post I know... unfortunately the constant crunch mode I was in while working in Tata made me unable to post anything...
so heres a quick update on my status...
I am now unemployed (again) so I can get back to finishing Animation Mentor...
unfortunatly my SUPER SECRET project is on hold since i wasnt able to continue during my time at work

While I was in employment I learnt quite a bit and had quite some fun (mostly thanks to an awesome Lead and great team mates)

here are some of the things I learnt over time which i feel might be useful to other (if any one is reading i.e :D )

Caution The following post can be lengthy and boring... readers discretion is advised... unsound is not responsible if the reader falls asleep as one is reading the following... the reader is amply warned (i think)

CHOOSE The 1st shot Wisely...
Alot of the time in a production environment due to multiple reasons there might not be a training period of any sort... So If one joins a new Studio and is given a bunch of shots to animate, My honest suggestion is to tackle the least complicated shot... From personal experience I can state that in my previous job (at cochin) i took up a complicated shot and I was stuck with it for quite a while... it got my confidence down really bad (i was almost down to tears at one point and thought of quitting... ) but in tata I started out with a simpler shot (a single character with simple acting) and I got onto the track with very little hiccup... I find it always takes few shots to get to understand what Team lead/Supervisor wants...

Build a Good Rappo with Lead...
I know this sounds stupid, But its SUPER important... Having one's Team lead's support... even better having one's team lead's Trust would go a Lonnnnng way... especially when one is having trouble in certain shots it was good to have lead's support and patience... still remember the horror of the YO YO!!! and raggles wriggle (ok this only myself and maybe my TL if he remembers might get it)

Develop 2 sets of Animation workflow...
There are 2 distinct workflow methods that we as animators should possess... one is Animation in detail and other one is animating quickly...and as an animator we have to balance the two to become succesful in a production environment (atleast in India where the bulk of animation is mostly outsourced work)... it is quite impossible to have only one set of workflow... One cannot only animate fast (cause it then becomes a routine and the animator will start stagnating or worst start hating what he/she/it is doing) similarly one cannot animate in detail all the time (with deadlines its impossible to give the love and care the shot needs/demands)
so its always bests to find a workflow which allows one to work fast but still be able to add some acting/detail into the animation...

Know the whole pipeline
I learnt this the hard way... but its always good to make some friends with people in other parts of the workflow (especially the lighting team) that way u are aware of what they do... I had to revist most of my shots because when lighting they make everything SUPER Smooth and haveing both character and the BG smooth creates a GAP!!! man the irritation of repoening the shot!!!! hoping that the computer wouldnt crash the moment i hit '3' on my keyboard (worst till hoping no fatal error occors when i hit '6')... the angry vibes that literally flooded out of the lighting room, gives me the shivers even as i sit and think about it now.... BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! (unfortunatly the men's room was in the lighting section and everytime i had to use it I had to go near the lighting section and boy was it scary!!!)

Find Some inspiration in your work
It's really hard to work on something that u find uninteresting... It's easier to think hey this is not mine, I am just paid to do this... but that in my opinion is counter productive both to the show and to the animator... Agreed its hard to find inspiration to all the shots but i found that the shot that i found interesting came out much better then the shots where I just animated for the sake of animation... I belive something similar is said by Mike gasaway in one of his post "

We did a little show about a genius boy with a metallic dog. Did pretty well in the ratings and did even better in the hearts of millions. I still TO THIS DAY get complimented on a show that was cancelled…er…NOT picked up for a fourth season…what, six years ago?Anyway, we did this show brilliantly (YES brilliantly) ON time AND ON budget AND had high quality. Take THAT, triangle."

sure the post talks about a totally different subject but it kinda took me on a different track of thought that lead me to the conclusion that if one is truly interested, the external restrictions like budget or time constraint wount affect the creativity, and one can still be creative or even more creative in these constraints then one can be without constraints... confusing I admit it but to me its true none the less

ok i think thats it for now....

oh almost forgot... since i hadnt used my wacom for almost 2 months i thought i'vd warm up before the start of the term...
so here is a quick 2D testWarmUp from vedanth rajan on Vimeo.